He narrows his eyes at me.
“You’re very bossy,” I tease. “And calling your dad ‘elderly’ at fifty six? He lets you get awaywith way too much.”
He comes closer to me. Takes me in his arms. “At least someone lets me get away with things. Because you sure as hell don’t.” A kiss below my ear.
“Someone has to keep that ego manageable.” I arch my neck to let him kiss me more. “I shudder to think what you'd be like without me,” I joke. “Total diva.”
“Out of control,” he agrees, completely straight-faced. “Good thing I've got you.”
For a little while longer.
“Good thing,” I say softly.
He kisses me in the doorway with one hand around the back of my neck and the other braced on the frame above my head, and he takes his time about it, his mouth warm and soft.
How many more of these kisses do we have?
Too few.
If we had the rest of our lives it still wouldn’t be enough.
There are tears pressing at the back of my eyes. I blink them away.
“It’s hotter than hell.” I sigh. “How do you feel about a dip in a certain alpine lake?”
Hopefully he won’t notice my voice is a little scratchy.
“No complaints about water safety,” I add. “You’ll be there with me. Keeping me safe.”
The look in his eyes softens even more. “That’s my job.”
I wish I could say that would be true always.
Walker drives with one hand on the wheel and one hand on my knee. Thumb moving in that slow absent stroke that means he's thinking.
I'm thinking too.
Since Sutton's we've been… careful. Careful with each other in a way we weren't before, dancing around the big and painful goodbye that’s coming, trying to have as many good days as possible before it arrives.
He doesn't bring up Nashville. I don't bring up New York.
We write songs in the morning and I make dinner and we put Jonah to bed and we don't talk about the fact that next week I won't be here to do any of it.
The lake appears through the trees, glittering deep blue beneath the sun.
Walker pulls off the dirt road and cuts the engine.
He gets out of the truck and goes around to pull the cooler from the bed, and I grab the blanket and towels and follow him down to the bank.
The lake is the same impossible color it was in June, cold and clear all the way to the bottom. We spread the blanket on the flat rock shelf at the water's edge and Walker hands me a beer from the cooler without being asked.
It’s not even ten o’clock in the morning and I don’t think I’ve ever had a drink this early in my life, but hey. Last few days of summer kind of vibes.
“Did you bring a swimsuit for once?” Walker asks, looking me up and down like he’s undressing me with his eyes.
So I do it for him.
Strip off my tank and shorts. Unhook my bra and pull down my underwear, and stand before him totally nude.
